NEW FACULTY APPOINTMENTS {approved by unanimous vote on 11/14/2008} In its appointment of tenure-track [Ordinary] faculty, the Department of Public and Community Service Studies is committed to the maintenance of the highest standards in instruction, scholarship, and service to the College and its professional and social communities. Based upon the criteria of the College, the Department in all of its searches for full-time faculty, seeks men and women qualified in an appropriate academic field, normally holding the terminal degree, who have demonstrated excellence, or who have the potential for excellence, in teaching, scholarship, and service; and who can affirm and contribute to the College s Mission as a Catholic and Dominican institution. 1 In evaluating candidates the Department of Public and Community Service Studies employs criteria of Engaged Scholarship, as described below. Faculty Searches and appointments are governed by the Faculty Handbook (Appendix A), and guided by the Policies and Procedural Guidelines for Faculty Searches available from the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. ANNUAL REVIEW OF PROBATIONARY FACULTY At the start of each academic year, each probationary faculty member is required to submit for approval by the Department Chair a Work Plan that specifies the ways in which the faculty member will demonstrate Engaged Scholarship: engaged pedagogy; engaged scholarly work; and/or engaged service. What counts as evidence of performance will be specified at this time, and the faculty member will be expected to submit a narrative summarizing their work and related evidence in a timely manner, and no later than the beginning of the next academic year. While the Chair has formal authority to approve a faculty member s Work Plan, it is expected that the Work Plan of each faculty member will be shared with other members of the department as it is being developed. Each probationary faculty member is required to maintain throughout the probationary period an on-going portfolio of information pertinent to his/her activities in the areas of scholarship, teaching, and service as described in the Faculty Handbook (see 3.4.1-3.4.2) and in the Departmental guidelines. This dossier shall minimally contain the following items for review by the department chair (or his/her designate): Annual departmental work plan Annual year-end performance narrative Copies of course syllabi A copy of the faculty member s teaching and office hours Course evaluations by students and/or community liaisons (community members playing a significant role in the development and/or delivery of a course) An up-to-date copy of the faculty member s curriculum vitae Evidence of engaged scholarly work, per the work plan Evidence of engaged community service, per the work plan On an annual basis, the department chair (or his/her designate) will provide the probationary faculty member with feedback on the portfolio. This evaluation is designed to nurture faculty development and growth, will highlight both areas of strength and opportunities for improvement, and will contribute to the development of the next year s Work Plan. No formal evaluation will take place in the first semester of a faculty member s appointment at the College. In lieu of formal evaluation, during the first term, new faculty should consult with tenured members of the department about pedagogy, evaluation standards, and advising responsibilities. To permit new faculty adequate time to develop their courses and a research agenda, the College does not encourage first year faculty to assume positions on standing committees of the College, to teach course overloads, or to engage in outside work. Beginning in the second semester of the probationary faculty member s first academic year, and on a yearly basis thereafter, the chair will arrange for tenured faculty 1 To preserve that character and further its Mission, the College appoints to the Ordinary faculty, without national searches, Dominican Friars qualified in their academic disciplines. proposal Page 1 of 5
members (or a designated committee thereof) to evaluate the teaching performance of the probationary faculty member. Written evaluations of classroom visits will be shared with the probationary faculty member and will become part of the portfolio. THIRD YEAR REVIEW A thorough review of the probationary faculty member s ( the Candidate ) record of teaching, scholarship, and service should be conducted by the chair in consultation with the tenured members of the department in the fall of the candidate s third contract year. For those faculty who were awarded a full three years of credit toward tenure at the time of initial appointment, the review will take place in their second contract year at Providence College. Prior to the review, the probationary faculty member will make a presentation, based on their Engaged Scholarship, to the departmental faculty. The department chair, following a meeting of the tenured members of the department, should determine whether or not to recommend to the vice president for academic affairs that the candidate s contract be renewed. In its pre-tenure review, departmental faculty will follow the criteria for tenure outlined below in making its recommendation, yes or no, to recommend the award of a contract for the next academic year. The candidate will be informed of the decision and departmental rationale by November 15. If the department recommends the non-reappointment of a probationary faculty member because of deficiencies in teaching, scholarship, or service, the vice president for academic affairs, following consultation with the Committee on Academic Rank and Tenure [CART], will inform the probationary faculty member by December 15. PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATING PROBATIONARY FACULTY FOR TENURE Each Candidate for tenure is required to maintain throughout the probationary period an on-going portfolio of information pertinent to his/her activities in the areas of scholarship, teaching, and service as described below. This portfolio should be available to faculty who will be eligible to vote on tenure cases upon their request. It is expected that the Chair (or his/her designate) will review this portfolio annually and will discuss it informally with the probationary faculty member in order to inform the latter of the Faculty s perception of her/his success in meeting the Department s performance expectations for the awarding of tenure. Consistent with procedures required in the Faculty Handbook, the Candidate has the opportunity to submit materials he/she believes to be helpful to the tenure decision by September 21 of the academic year in which a tenure decision is made. The Candidate s statement should be accompanied by a supporting portfolio addressing all of the criteria relevant to tenure (scholarship, teaching, and service). The Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs provides advice on assembling the portfolio ( Guidelines for Tenure Candidates. ) The Candidate should provide at least one copy of the complete portfolio to the department for review by the tenured faculty and eleven copies to the Office of Vice President for Academic Affairs for distribution to the members of CART. Although the Candidate may consult with the Chair and other members of the department in compiling the portfolio, he/she is fully responsible for developing, maintaining, and submitting these materials on time. Upon receiving the application and portfolio and in a timely manner, the Chair will inform the Faculty of the Candidate s intention and will make the portfolio available to the Faculty. The Chair will also consult with the Faculty to set a date prior to October 15 for a meeting at which the Faculty will be able to discuss their evaluations of the Candidate and her/his portfolio prior to executing a secret ballot on the elements relevant to the Candidate s tenure. An official record of this meeting shall minimally include a list of those Faculty present and the vote of the faculty. The Chair will, in a timely manner, inform the Candidate of the date of the meeting and the outcome of the vote. PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATING FACULTY FOR PROMOTION Prior to September 1 of each academic year, the vice president for academic affairs reviews the status of all faculty members and determines which faculty members are eligible for promotion in rank. Faculty members who have served three full years as an assistant professor and faculty members who have served four full years as an associate professor are informed of their eligibility for consideration of promotion in rank to take effect in the ensuing academic year in compliance with the provisions of the Faculty Handbook (see 3.4.5). Faculty proposal Page 2 of 5
are only notified once of their eligibility for promotion to a given rank. Faculty who wish to be considered for promotion in rank shall present their request and all materials relevant to their promotion to their respective department chair by December 15. The Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs provides advice on assembling the portfolio ( Guidelines for Promotion Candidates. ) Prior to February 1, the promotion evaluations by the chair and eligible members of the department shall be completed utilizing the evaluation scheme outlined in Appendix E of the Faculty Handbook and forwarded to the vice president for academic affairs. CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING TENURE AND PROMOTION The Faculty Handbook specifies the qualifications for tenure ( 3.5.3) and promotion ( 3.4.2). It is the responsibility of eligible voters in the department to evaluate the faculty member s achievements in teaching, scholarship, and service. Consistent with its mission and with the expectations and guidelines of the College, the Department of Public and Community Service Studies has the following expectations: Engaged Scholarship The Department strives for the integration of scholarship, teaching and service as a type of praxis in which a faculty member s work deliberately connects her or his academic and community-based work in a cycle of action and reflection. The meaning of such integration is expressed in the Carnegie Classification criteria for Community Engagement, which argue for collaboration between higher education institutions and their larger communities (local, regional, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity. Put more explicitly, the Department s goal is the construction and sharing of social knowledge that can be understood as being a dimension of social action. The department looks for evidence of this praxis in the three domains of Engaged Scholarly Work, Engaged Pedagogy and Community Engagement. Engaged Scholarly Work The Department values engaged scholarly work as an integral and important part of a faculty member s role. By engaged scholarly work the Department means intellectually and professionally rigorous, theoretical and applied work that grows out of and speaks to the faculty member s teaching and community engagement. It is expected that the faculty member s scholarly agenda and products will grow out of her or his teaching and community based experiences, and be developed in dialogue with local, regional, national and/or international community partners. Drawing upon the guidelines of the National Review Board for the Scholarship of Engagement, the Department assesses the faculty member s engaged scholarly work on these criteria: Is the basic purpose of the work and its value for the public good clear? Is there an academic fit with the scholar s role, and the departmental and university missions? Does the scholar identify significant intellectual and theoretical questions in her/his academic field and in her/his community work? Does her/his work demonstrate a cumulative focus and impact over time? Does the scholar s work open additional areas for further exploration and collaboration? Does the scholar s work achieve impact or change, as evaluated by other scholars and by community partners? Because engaged scholarly work is intimately linked to the faculty member s teaching and community engagement, the specific products that will count as evidence will be identified in the annual Work Plan submitted by the faculty member at the start of each academic year. The following sorts of scholarly work are appropriate for submission and evaluation: Documented contributions to the work of local, regional, national and/or global community partners (for example, grant proposals or grant evaluations; community-based research; research summaries of best practice; strategic planning; program evaluations; program implementation; organizational or staff development); documented evidence of clinical, teaching, and other applied activities, when they can be shown to contribute to the knowledge base in the faculty member s professional field; articles in scholarly journals (refereed or otherwise), scholarly books, convention papers and posters (with evidence of level of peer review), textbooks, edited books, chapters, book reviews, participation and/or organization of convention panels or discussions, chairing convention sessions, magazine articles, proposal Page 3 of 5
journal reviewer, book reviewer, and other material that the candidate wishes to offer as evidence of scholarship. may be included in the scholarship dossier. Additionally, Candidates may present data indicating the importance of their work in their academic field and for their community partners. These data may include evaluations from community partners, descriptions of peer review processes and acceptance rates, and citation indices. The Faculty will review the scholarly work presented by the Candidate and will discuss their evaluation of this work at the meeting set by the Chair. The Candidate s work will be weighed using evidence contained in her or his portfolio, and will be weighed based upon the goals and evaluations contained in their Work Plans and the annual reviews of those Work Plans. The primary focus will be to determine the quality, recognition, and quantity of the work submitted. On the topic of quantity, the Faculty will not set an arbitrary standard but will evaluate the work in the context of quality and recognition. Critical in this evaluation, however, will be that scholarship is active and continuing with an appropriate level of productivity being documented. After the faculty have reviewed and discussed the Candidate s scholarly work, a secret ballot will be taken in accord with procedures described in the Faculty Handbook on the question: Does the Candidate s scholarly work justify the award of tenure/promotion in rank? Engaged Pedagogy The College values excellent teaching which includes these observations derived from the work of Chickering: good teaching practice (a) encourages contact between students and faculty, (b) develops reciprocity and cooperation among students, (c) gives prompt feedback, (d) emphasizes time on task, (e) communicates high expectations, (f) respects diverse talents and ways of learning. In addition, note that good teaching requires (a) renewal and currency of material, (b) modeling of enthusiasm for the subject matter, and (c) patience and tolerance. Excellence in teaching implies student learning. In addition to these general criteria, the Department of Public and Community Service Studies looks for evidence of enagaged pedagogy. The Department understands engaged pedagogy to mean teaching that: - links community experiences with classroom reflection; - invites student participation in the creation of knowledge that serves as a dimension of social action - self-consciously practices a cycle of action and reflection - employs active learning methods such as service learning, community based research, simulations, case studies or presentations In her or his portfolio, the Candidate will provide any forms of information that he/she believes to reflect on his/her teaching effectiveness. These materials may include but are not limited to (a) syllabi, (b) assignments and exercises, (c) descriptions of teaching methods actually used, (d) indications of course changes made to up-date materials, (e) evaluations from faculty or students, and (f) evidence of student involvement in the production of social knowledge. The Candidate s engaged pedagogy will be described in her or his annual Work Plan, and evidence of it will be placed in the portfolio. Candidates will also be evaluated by tenured members of the faculty, on a regular basis, as described above. The Department Chair will provide a written evaluation of the Candidate s teaching which will become part of the Candidate s portfolio. In addition, the Candidate is expected to accept class visitation by other members of the Faculty who may wish to observe teaching for purpose of the tenure decision. Such visitation will be preceded by an agreement on performance dimensions and material as described in their Work Plan. If an agreement about performance dimensions cannot be reached, the classroom evaluation may still take place at the visiting Faculty member s discretion. The evaluation report must include a statement noting that agreement had not been reached. It is the responsibility of each Candidate and his/her department to conduct student evaluations on a semester-by-semester basis. The results of this evaluation will be tabulated by the department chair or his/her designee, included in the Candidate s portfolio, and provided to the Candidate. proposal Page 4 of 5
The Faculty having reviewed and discussed the material in the portfolio and other information available on the Candidate s teaching, the Chair will take a secret ballot in accord with procedures described in the Faculty Handbook on the question: Does the Candidate s teaching record justify the award of tenure/promotion in rank? Community Engagement The College recognizes service to the department, the college, the discipline, and non-college communities as relevant to the Candidate s tenure considerations. Because of its emphasis on engaged scholarship, the Department of Public and Community Service Studies expects that engagement with local, regional, national or international communities will be central to the professional work of its faculty members. Such engagement is expected to form the basis for the faculty member s engaged scholarly work and their engaged pedagogy. At minimum, community engagement will be identified in the Work Plan by: - Identification of community partner(s) with whom the faculty member collaborates -Identification of specific projects or roles the faculty member assumes with a community partner - Estimated amount of time the faculty member spends working with the community partner(s) - Evidence of departmental or college resources shared with the community partner in which the faculty member helps facilitate - Evidence of community resources shared with the college, which the faculty member helps facilitate In addition, the Candidate is expected to share in departmental and college service. Department service may include but is not limited to (a) service on departmental committees, (b) service as department chair, (c) support of departmental scholarly and social functions, (d) service as a mentor of junior faculty, (e) participation in events such as Family Day and the Major/Minor Fair, (f) facilitating the department=s mission (as in supervising the departmental newsletter, advising departmental organizations, and serving as departmental secretary, etc.). College service may include but is not limited to (a) representation on college committees, (b) Faculty Senate involvement, (c) directing an academic or administrative program (in some cases, e.g., CTE service, might also represent scholarship in the form of professional development), (d) Undeclared Advising Program, (e) participation in college sponsored events. Service to the discipline may include but is not limited to (a) office holding or committee activity in regional or national professional associations, (b) departmental liaison to a professional organization. After the Faculty have reviewed and discussed the Candidate s service record as presented in the portfolio, the Chair will take a secret ballot in accord with procedures described in the Faculty Handbook on the question: Does the Candidate s record of service justify the award of tenure/promotion in rank? After these procedures have been followed, the chair will count the ballots on all three questions, informing the Faculty of the result. The chair will then report the result of this final vote to the Candidate and to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, including his/her own recommendation, and at the same time will present his or her recommendation to the Candidate. Evaluation of Term Faulty Special Lecturers (part-time) and Adjunct faculty (full-time) should be evaluated in each semester of their first two years of appointment at Providence College; thereafter, they should be evaluated once each year, unless they are assigned to a course not previously part of their workload at Providence College. Special Lecturers and Adjunct faculty are always to be evaluated in the first semester in which they teach a course that they have not previously taught at Providence College. proposal Page 5 of 5